Decadence and the Making of Modernism

by David Weir

Overview

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780870239922
Publisher:	University of Massachusetts Press
Publication date:	01/05/1996
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	(w) x (h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

Editorial Reviews

What is Decadence? Most literary reference books don't list it as a movement; at most it's defined by time, place, a loose collection of titles, authors and little magazines, and how it shades into more established movements such as aestheticism, symbolism, naturalism. Weir, a professor of comparative literature and foreign languages, does a splendid job of breaking down the elements of decadence and of synthesizing current thinking on both it and modernism. Before going on to discuss Huysmans's A reboursperhaps the only unarguably decadent novelWeir describes the elements of decadence found in Flaubert's Salammb, the Goncourt brothers' Germinie Lacerteux and, in England 20 years later, Walter Pater's Marius the Epicurean. He then makes convincing arguments for the unmediated influence of decadence on modernist literature. Regarding Joyce, he shows not only that ``the unity of the book is decomposed... to give place to the independence of the word'' (to eviscerate Havelock Ellis), but also the heavy use of cultural references. He demonstrates that there is a deliberate anti-decadence in Gide's L'Immoraliste, which eschews decadent artificiality and sickness for a modernist health and naturalism. While Joyce, Gide, Flaubert, Huysmans are well known, Weir thankfully doesn't assume more than a passing acquaintance with his examples of decadence in decayOctave Mirbeau's Le Jardin des supplices, Ben Hecht's Fantazius Mallare and James Huneker's Painted Veils. Following decadence from romanticism to his postface on post-structuralism, Weir's study is intriguing, well-written and widely accessible. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

A comparative analysis of the Czech Republic's economic transition after the fall of the Communist bloc, edited by a principal architect of the Czech economic transformation and Economic Advisor to Vaclav Havel. Thirty five essayists (primarily Czech economists) describe the country's macroeconomic performance; its development of capital markets; the structure and performance of its industries; its unemployment, household behavior, and income distribution; and the environmental and health issues it faces. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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